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Gifts in your will: Can I ask you some questions?
Sir Michael Parkinson, Patron of the Brain and Spine Foundation, explains how leaving a gift in your will could make a big difference to the lives of those affected by brain and spine conditions...Did you know...?
- Two million people in the UK are disabled by a neurological condition, such as multiple sclerosis, stroke or brain tumour
- More people die from brain and spine conditions than from heart disease or cancer
- Despite this, neurological services are the Cinderella of the medical world, receiving less funding than the other major causes of death and disability
How is the Brain and Spine Foundation helping?
- Every year, the Foundation supports more than 10,000 people and their relatives living with a wide range of conditions
- It provides vital information on all neurological conditions, through an excellent range of booklets, a highly professional website and a free, award winning helpline
- It advises the government on how best to improve services for those affected
Why am I telling you this?
I know what it’s like myself to suffer back pain, but recently I lost a colleague to a brain tumour and I know of two sports writers whose children were diagnosed with the same frightening condition.
Neurological disorders kill and disable more people than either cancer or heart attack. They affect the elderly with stroke and dementia, the young adult with brain tumours and multiple sclerosis, teenagers with epilepsy and head injury as well as babies with cerebral palsy, meningitis and hydrocephalus (water on the brain).
Despite this there are only a handful of specialists and so up to 95% of those affected never see a specialist when we know specialist care can reduce death and disability by up to 30%.
This is why the Brain and Spine Foundation is a real life-line for families across the UK. They are there at the end of the phone with professional information and help, which is so invaluable when you receive a worrying diagnosis.
The Foundation is the only national charity devoted to all conditions affecting the nervous system, so it can give impartial advice on rare conditions as well as the more common ones.
So how can we all help?
As a charity, of course, the Foundation depends on public donations to carry out its vital work and I can tell you, as a Patron, that the money is very well spent. I have been supporting the Foundation since 1993 and I know what a difference its work makes to people.
One excellent way to support the work of the Foundation is to remember it in your will. Whether you choose to leave a share of your estate or a sum of money, this could make a big difference to the lives of those affected by brain and spine conditions.
Have you got a valid will?
To leave a legacy to the Foundation, you need to have a valid will, properly drawn up and witnessed. Of course, for anyone with dependants, an up to date will is a real necessity, but it’s important for others too.
There are many benefits – a will puts you in control of your estate. It can help save inheritance tax and, of course, it enables you to remember a good cause.
Will you join me?
I am highly impressed by the work and integrity of the Brain and Spine Foundation, which is why I choose to support it whenever I can. Through my work I have been lucky to meet some remarkable folk – the caring and professional people behind the Foundation certainly rank among them. So please will you join me in supporting the work of this important charity by remembering it in your will today?
What could your legacy achieve?
A legacy to the Foundation could make a real impact on the lives of people with brain and spine disorders, for example by:
- Covering the cost of the professionally staffed helpline for a year
- Enabling the Foundation to expand its list of booklets on specific conditions
- Helping the Foundation to develop specialist training for GPs and other health professionals
Want to know more?
If you would like more information about remembering the work of the Brain and Spine Foundation in your will, please contact:
- Tel 020 7793 5900 and ask for the Legacy Officer
- Email info@brainandspine.org.uk
We will be happy to provide sample wordings for wills. For people in or near London, the Foundation’s lawyers will give free initial advice on will making. Please contact the Foundation for details.
What are the Foundation's aims and objectives?
- Expand access to quality information and support for patients and carers
- Improve the skills of medical professionals and delivery of services to the public
- Raise the profile of neurological conditions and disabilities
- Increase the level of research into neurological disorders
How can I contact the Foundation?
Write to:
The Brain and Spine Foundation
3.36 Canterbury Court
Kennington Park
1-3 Brixton Road
London
SW9 6DE
Tel: 020 7793 5900
Fax: 020 7793 5939
info@brainandspine.org.uk
